TLDR – watch our presentation on the Tech Field Day YouTube Channel. How many times have you been asked to improve efficiency, do more with less, or work with fewer staff than needed due to talent shortages or resource constraints? Throughout my decades-long IT career, the network has been the backbone of the business – yet our teams are always expected to do more with less and to be bulletproof while we’re doing it. And somehow, we always rise to the challenge.

On January 25, Forward Networks was honored to host Cloud Field Day 16. We especially enjoy working with the delegates because of their industry experience and objective viewpoints; in fact, we launched our product at a Networking Field Day in 2017. This blog is the first in a series covering our Cloud Field Day 16 presentations.

These are uncertain times in tech. If you’re at one of the many companies in the news recently, think back to why you joined. Was it the people? The tech? Or maybe… the perception of a rock-solid, not-going-anywhere, totally-guaranteed position? Things have changed lately.

There are many ways a digital twin can make enterprise networks more secure, agile, and reliable. Actually, there are more ways than we envisioned when we came up with the technology and we’re constantly learning from our customers.

If you have a single vendor, single cloud homogenous network where everything is documented, you know where every device is, and you know all the possible paths in your network, then you are a networking deity. Realistically, nobody has a “simple” and fully documented network. Mainly because enterprises grew over time with the organization.

Sometimes as a network engineer, you may feel like you're walking through a carnival where the barker shouts, "Step right up, ladies and gentlemen," promising something never seen before, only to find a poorly constructed paper mache replica of the impossible (or in our world, vaporware). Eventually, you become jaded and ignore the shouts until someone you trust tells you to take a look.